Safety razor with adjustable edge exposure



Jan. 7, 1964 MURQS 3,116,552

SAFETY RAZOR WITH ADJUSTABLE EDGE EXPOSURE Filed Sept. 12. 1960 INVENTOR.

Joseph Muros United States Patent 3,116,552 SAFETY RAZQR WTTH ADJUSTABLE EDGE EXPGSURE .loseph Muros, Newtonville, Mass, assignor to The Gillette (Zompany, Boston, Mass, a corporation of Delaware Filed Sept. 12, 19130, Ser. No. 55,319 8 Claims. (Cl. Ell-60.5)

This invention comprises a safety razor or" the onepiece type having new and improved structure for adjustably determiniru edge exposure of the blade. The term one-piece is used herein, as commonly, to designate a safety razor in which all the components remain interconnected at all times so that the user may remove or replace the blade without the necessity of handling separate razor parts. In razors of this type, the blade is clamped in a position of transverse curvature with its edge exposed between cooperating blade clamping members such as a blade supporting plate and cap sections. The greater curvature imparted to the blade in the clamping operation the less is its edge exposure. Edge exposure is a critical factor in determining the satisfaction of the user and the present invention provides an improved and novel mechanism whereby each individual user may adjust and set his razor for desired edge exposure or may adjust the edge exposure of the blade during the shaving operation, varying it if desired between the first and second time over the face.

The safety razor structure herein disclosed and claimed has the advantage of convenience in operation, pleasing appearance and economy of manufacture in that it requires relatively few parts and only parts that say be manufactured at low cost by automatic machinery.

These and other advanta es of the invention will be best understood and appreciated from the following description of an embodiment thereof selected for purposes of illustration and shown in the accompanying drawings in which- FIG. 1 is a view in elevation, partly in longitudinal section, of the complete razor, shown on an enlarged scale.

FIG. 2 is an exploded view in perspective of two sleeve elements illustrating the principle involved in the razor construction.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the blade-supporting plate, and

FIG. 4 is a vie. in cross-section on the line 4-4 of FIG. 3.

As herein sl own the blade-supporting plate lb of the razor head is of rectangular outline and provided with down-turned longitudinal edges Ill which constitute the lover guard of the razor. The central area of the plate ill is depressed, as shown in r 168. 3 and 4, and the depressed por on 18 is provided with a circular slot 19 of such dimcn. as, as to receive with clearance the upstanding circular rim 33 or": an adjusting sleeve 27 which will be more particularly described hereinafter.

The handle of the razor includes an inner tubular section ll which passes through the plate ill and is permanently connected thereto by having its upper end spun over upon the depressed area of the plate. The stem or spindle 12 of the spider passes freely through the tubular section 11 of the handle and is permanently connected at its upper end to the crossbar 13 of the spider.

t each end, the crossbar 13 has a downwardly extending arm 14 and to these arms are secured end bars 15 to which are pivotally connected the cap sections 16. It will be understood that these cap sections are downwardly concaved so that when the spider is drawn downwardly the blade 17 is transversely curved over convex areas of the blade-supportiug plate ll).

At its lower end, the stem 12 is threaded to receive an elongated tubular nut 2t and this is counterbored and "ice shouldered at its lower end to receive retaining screw 21 threaded into the lower end of the stem. The nut if is partially enclosed within an outer tube 22, and this is provided with an internal rib 23 which is engaged in an annular groove formed in the nut 2th. The nut is thus held against longitudinal movement while it may be freely rotated to raise or lower the spider. Upon the upper end of the tube 22 rests the circular rim 24 of a shouldered sleeve 25 reduced in diameter at its upper end and provided with an upstanding stop 26.

The reduced end of the sleeve 25 fits into the sleeve 27 having a flaring head 23 which merges into the circular upstanding rim 33 mentioned above. The lower end surface of the sleeve 27 is formed as a helical earn 2% and this is interrupted by a downwardly extending abutment 30. Both the sleeve and ti e sleeve 27 are bored to receive the stem 12 with clearance. T he sleeve 27 is also provided with numerals 1, 3, 5, 7 and 9 which are correlated to the helical cam surface 29. That is to say, when the abutment 3h engages the stop 26 of the sleeve 25, the highest end of the cam surface rests upon the top of the stop '26 of the sleeve 25 so that the combined length of the two sleeves is at a minimum. As the sleeve 27 is rotated from left to right, as seen in FIG. 1, higher and higher portions of the helical cam surface 29 become effective and the combined length of the two sleeves becomes greater and greater with the result that the circular rim 33 rises above the surface of the blade clamping plate it and limits the downward movement of the crossbar l3 and the spider so that less and less transverse curvature is imparted to the blade and its edge exposure is correspondingly increased. When the sleeve 27 is turned to the index finger 9, the rim 33 has attained its maximum height and the edge exposure of the blade is at its maximum.

The inner surface of the rim 33 is provided with ratchet teeth 3-1 and with these cooperates a spring detent 32. It will be understood that the detent clicks over the detent teeth when the sleeve 27 is turned and acts to hold the sleeve against accidental displacement.

A compression spring 34 is interposed between the bottom of the sleeve 25 and a ring 35 which normally rests upon the upper end of the nut 253 but is limited in its downward movement by an annular shoulder 36 formed in the inner wall of the outer tube 22 of the handle. The action of the spring 34- is to maintain the cap section 16 closed under severe spring pressure when the stem 12 is drawn down by the tubular nut 2'3, and for that purpose and in order that the sleeve 27 may be manipulated under all conditions a permanent clearance is provided between the bottom of the tube 22 and an annular shoulder in the outer surface of the nut It will be apparent that the stop 25 has the function of limiting the rotary movement of the sleeve 27 in both directions, serving as an index mark in registration with the numerals l and 9 of the sleeve. it also acts as an abutment supporting the sleeve 27' by engaging its cam surface 29 and for that purpose must be as long as the abutment 3d of the sleeve.

In the No. 1 position of the sleeve 2'7 the rim 33 occupies its lowest possible position. The spider may therefore be moved to its extreme blade clamping position and the edge exposure of the blade is at a On the other hand, when the sleeve is turned to its No. 9 position, the rim 33 is fully protruded and the spider can be drawn down a lesser amount so that less curvature is imparted to the blade and its edge exposure is correspondingly greater.

The interposition of the spring 34 between the nut 20 and the sleeve 25 insures that the sleeve 27 will be free to rotate at all times While the blade is under clamping pressure and the razor in actual use for shaving.

It will be that the present cons- 'uction is sin pliiicd in that it requires no intermediate blade platform, no third blade-supporting elem nt such as have been found necessary heretofore in securing the desired adjustment of lade exposure.

Having thus disclosed my invention and described in detail an illustrative embodiment thereof, I claim as new and desire to see c by Letters Patent:

1. A safety razor comprising a blade supporting plate and a relatively movable spider having cap sections 00- r versely urved position, a sleeve having a rim extending with clearance through a circular slot in said plate so as to be free to move axially with respect thereto and being located below a portion of the Spider and in its path of movement, said sleeve having a helical cam surface its lower end, a tubular handle section having a circular end face for rotatably supporting the sleeve, and means exten ing from said handle section supporting said blade vorti g plate whereby the pos' 'on of the spider is controlled in clai g the blade for shaving by the angular position of said sleeve.

2. A safety razor comprising a fixed blade supporting plate and a relatively movable spider having cap sections cooperating with the plate in clamping a [lei-able blade in transversely curved position, an axially adjustable sleeve having a circular rim at one end located beneath the spider in position for direct engagement therewith in the clamping position of the latter and having a helical cam surface at its other end, and a handle section for rotatably supporting said sleeve whereby the im of said sleeve may be moved to positions of various levels and correspondin ly arrest clamping movement or" the spider and flexing of a blade interposed hen-ea it.

3. A safety razor as dcsci oed in claim 2, further characterized in that the blade supporting plate has a circular slot for free passage of the circular rim of the sleeve.

4-. A safety razor comprising a blade supporting plate and cap sections cooperating with the plate for clamping a flexible blade in transversely curved position, a sleeve having a circular rim at one end and a helical cam surface at its other end interrupted by a projecting abutment which defines one end of said helical earn surface, a second sleeve having a cooperating stop engaging said helical surface, and index means for setting said first mentioned sleeve selected rotary positions with respect to said cap sections.

5. A safety razor comprising a fixed plate having a convex blade supporting portion and a downwardly offset central area with a circular slot therein, a spider carrying cap section which cooperates with said plate in clamping a flexible blade, a rotary sleeve having a circular rim movable in the circular slot of the blade supporting plate and a helical cam for raising and lowering said sleeve with respect to said plate to engage and arrest the spider in selected positions, and independent means for raising and lowering the spider.

6. A safety razor as described in claim 5, further characterized in that the means for raising and lowering the spider includes a rotary nut and a compression spring interposed between the nut and the said sleeve.

7. A safety razor comprising a fixed blade supporting plate and a spider carrying a cap which cooperates with said plate in clamping a flexible blade in transversely curved position, an axially movable sleeve having a circular rim at one end located below a portion of: said spider and in its path of movement, a second sleeve in abutment with the other end of said axially movable sleeve, the abutting end of one of said sleeves having a helical surface and the abutting end of the other sleeve including a projection in engagement with said helical surface, one of said sleeves being rotatably mounted with respect to the other sleeve whereby the position of the spider is controlled in clamping the blade for shaving by the angular position of said rotatable sleeve.

8. A safety razor as described in claim 7 further characterized in that the helical surace is interrupted by a projecting abutment which defines one end thereof for engaging said projection to limit the extent of rotation of said rotatable sleeve.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

1. A SAFETY RAZOR COMPRISING A BLADE SUPPORTING PLATE AND A RELATIVELY MOVABLE SPIDER HAVING CAP SECTIONS COOPERATING WITH THE PLATE TO CLAMP A FLEXIBLE BLADE IN TRANSVERSELY CURVED POSITION, A SLEEVE HAVING A RIM EXTENDING WITH CLEARANCE THROUGH A CIRCULAR SLOT IN SAID PLATE SO AS TO BE FREE TO MOVE AXIALLY WITH RESPECT THERETO AND BEING LOCATED BELOW A PORTION OF THE SPIDER AND IN ITS PATH OF MOVEMENT, SAID SLEEVE HAVING A LELICAL CAM SURFACE AT ITS LOWER END, A TUBULAR HANDLE SECTION HAVING A CIRCULAR END 